Generating Ideas Individually Better Than Brainstorm?
From Seth Godin’s Free Prize Inside:
Psychologist Paul Paulus has studied brainstorming for fourteen years at the University of Texas. He’s discovered that four individuals working on their own come up with about twice as much output as the same four people brainstorming together.
From the article “A Perfect Brainstorm” in Inc. Magazine:
In one recent study, conducted [by Paul Paulus] at a Texas energy company looking for ways to be more innovative, Paulus found that groups with four members generated about half as many ideas as four individuals brainstorming alone. Back in the lab, the results were the same, whether it was students investigating new uses for the paper clip or university staffers looking to cut costs.